1980’s
Objectives
• Identify important foreign and national
events that the Reagan Administration
faced.
• Describe the events at the start of the Bush
Administration. (George H.W. Bush)
1980 Election
• Ronald Reagan
• Jimmy Carter
– Republican
– Democrat
• VP George H.W. Bush
• VP Walter Mondale
Iranian Hostage Crisis
• Showed Carter as:
• Ineffective leader
• Weak
• Opened the door for Ronald Reagan
Reagan Elected
• During Reagan’s Inauguration all 52
American hostages were released.
Carter
Reagan
1980 Election
Ronald Reagan
• Republican
• Oldest person ever to become
president
• Age 69
• Former actor
• Former Governor of
California
Assassination Attempt
• March 30, 1981
– Only 70th day in office
• Followed a speech in Washington D.C.
» Ironically the speech was on the 10% surge in violent crime.
John Hinckley Jr.
• Fires 6 shots at the President
• Attempt motivated by his obsession with
actress Jody Foster.
"the greatest love offering in the history of the world"
-John Hinckley Jr. on his assassination attempt.
John Hinckley Jr.
• Found not guilty for reason of insanity.
– Admitted to St. Elizabeth's Hospital
– Reagan returned to the White House within a
month of the shooting.
Reagan’s Two Goals
1) Reduce Taxes
2) Decrease the power of the
Federal Government.
New Federalism
• Reagan’s plan to reduce the power of the
federal government.
New Federalism
• Federal Programs
– Made people dependant on the federal government.
– Reagan believed people should take care of themselves.
• Dependent
– Relying on others for one’s needs.
Reaganomics
• Tax and budget cuts
• Also called: “supply side economics”
Supply Side Economics
(Reaganomics)
• Four step theory:
1) When companies grow they supply the economy with more jobs.
2) If companies spend less on taxes they will have more to invest in
growing their business.
3) The government collects too much in taxes.
4) Paying less in taxes and cutting government spending creates jobs.
How did Reagan achieve
Reaganomics?
• Cut income tax by 25%
• Lowered (cut) government spending on:
– Education
– Environment
– Urban; social; and health projects.
– Critics:
• Claimed Reaganomics hurt the low and middle class.
First Female Supreme Court Justice
• Sandra Day O’Connor
– From Arizona
– Appointed by Reagan
– Conservative
– Conservative
• Interprets the Constitution literally (taken exactly as it is
written)
– Liberal
• Interprets Constitution broadly (assumes the Constitution
implies meaning beyond the literal interpretation)
1984 Presidential Election
• Ronald Reagan
– VP George H.W. Bush
• (Republicans)
• Walter Mondale
– VP Geraldine Ferraro
• (Democrats)
Reagan Wins
• Proved his popularity
with the public.
Challenger Explosion
• January 28, 1986
• 73 seconds into flight
• All 7 members died.
• Christa McAuliffe
– Teacher
» Planned to teach lessons from space and help with scientific
experiments.
• How did it happen?
– Two rubber “O” Rings failed
» Most similar to the Columbia disaster (Feb. 2003)
Challenger Explosion - 1986
Review
1) What was Reaganomics/Supply side economics?
2) How was Reaganomics achieved?
3) Explain what happened to the Challenger Space Shuttle.
4) Who won the election of 1980 and why?
5) Who won the election of 1984 and what did it show?
6) What were the two main goals of the Reagan Administration?
7) Who was John Hinckley Jr. and what did he have to do with President
Reagan?
International Issued of the 1980’s
“World” Categorization System
• Established After World War II:
– 1st World = Western Democracies
– 2nd World = Communist Countries
– 3rd World = Developing countries
» Not industrialized
» Developing countries
» Little to no power in World Affairs
Libya
• Lybian Leader: Muammar al –Gadhafi
– Libyan troops begin firing at planes flying over
international waters.
• U.S. Response:
– Sunk 2 Libyan ships
– Destroyed 1 Libyan missile site
– Bombed military posts that trained Libyan terrorists
• Libyan terrorists had been responsible for multiple attacks on
foreign airports earlier in the decade.
Iran – Contra Affair
• Nicaragua
– Communist country
– Tried to spread communism
throughout Latin America
– Contras
• a group within Nicaragua that wanted
to overthrow the communist
government.
• Funded by the U.S. to help achieve
their goal.
Iran – Contra Affair
• Money from arms deals with Iran
was sent to help the Contras in
Nicaragua
– This had not been authorized by
Congress
– This was done in secret
– Reagan was dealing with potential
terrorists.
Military Spending Increases to
Defend Against the:
“The Evil Empire”
• Greatest military peace-time build-up in
U.S. history.
• “Evil Empire”
• Used to refer to the Soviet Union
• Reagan: Soviets could not be trusted.
Soviet Flag
1985
• Mikhail Gorbachev
– Leader of Soviet Union
• New Policies:
• Glasnost
• Perestroika
• Wanted to IMPROVE relations with the U.S.
Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty
– INF
• Both nations agreed to allow government officials to
inspect weapons factories in both countries to ensure
that each country destroyed its medium range
nuclear weapons.
Strategic Defense Initiative
“Star Wars”
• use ground and space-based systems to
protect the United States from attack by
strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. (1983)
1988 Presidential Election
• George H.W. Bush
– Republican
• Michael Dukakis
– Democrat
Jesse Jackson
Independent
First African American
to run for President
George H.W. Bush
• Wins 54% of popular vote &
426 electoral votes
• Inherits 6 years of economic
growth.
• Faced serious social
problems:
– Crime
– Drugs
– Poverty
Review
• Who won the 1988 presidential election?
• What was “Star Wars?” and what did it involve creating?
• Who were the candidates in the 1988 election?
• What problems, and what advantages did the victor of the 1988
Presidential election inherit?
• Explain the Iran Contra Affair.
• Who was Mikhail Gorbachev and what did he want with the U.S?
• What was the evil empire?